Study: Low-nicotine cigarettes curb useA new study might help the push for regulations to limit nicotine in cigarettes. Smokers who switched to special low-nicotine ones wound up smoking less and were more likely to try to quit, researchers found. The study only lasted six weeks, and researchers call the evidence preliminary. But they say it’s the first large study to show that slashing nicotine, perhaps below an addiction threshold, is safe and leads to less smoking. The Food and ...

Oklahoma governor delays executionMcALESTER, Okla. — Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin postponed at the last minute Wednesday the execution of an inmate who claims he’s innocent, after prison officials said one of the three drugs they had received to carry out the lethal injection didn’t match state guidelines. Fallin said prison officials received potassium acetate for use in Richard Glossip’s execution, but Oklahoma’s protocols call for the use of potassium chloride. She reset the e...

Titanic's last lunch menu, from Money Boat, goes for $88,000 NEW YORK — The Titanic's last lunch menu, saved by a first-class passenger who climbed aboard a lifeboat whose crew was said to have been bribed to row away instead of rescue more people, sold at auction for $88,000 on Wednesday. The online New York auctioneer Lion Heart Autographs offered the menu and two other previously unknown artifacts from Lifeboat 1. Abraham Lincoln Salomon was among a handful of first-class passengers who boarded the l...

Number of children in U.S. foster care upFor the first time in a decade, there was a notable increase last year in the number of U.S. children in foster care, according to new federal figures released Wednesday. The annual report from the Department of Health and Human Services tallied 415,129 children in the foster care system as of September 30, 2014, up from about 401,000 a year earlier. The peak was 524,000 children in foster care in 2002, and the number had dropped steadily sinc...

Scientists report water on MarsCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists are reporting that Mars appears to have not only frozen water but flowing streams of salty water, at least in the summertime. They say their latest observations "strongly support" the longtime theory that salt water flows down certain Martian slopes each summer. These dark, narrow streaks tend to appear and grow during the warmest Martian months, and fade the rest of the year. Salt lowers the freezing poi...

Pope souvenirs abound during U.S. tripNEW YORK — “WE SELL POPE DOLLS,” blared a sign held up by a 7-Eleven worker on 42nd Street in Manhattan, directing customers to a store down the block. There, on an outdoor stand, were six plushy, squeezable popes, nestled rather incongruously among individually wrapped croissants and chocolate chip muffins. Employees stressed that the popes — $19.99 plus tax, and over 100 sold so far — were not edible. The Phantom of Broadway souvenir store a...

Pope speaks to Congress, heads to New York CityNEW YORK — Pope Francis plunged into the melting pot of New York after reminding the country of its immigrant origins in the first papal speech before Congress on Thursday. Over an intense 40 hours starting with an evening prayer service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, he will address world leaders at the United Nations, participate in an interfaith service at the Sept. 11 memorial museum at ground zero and celebrate Mass at Madison Square Garden....

Hundreds of millions in damage estimated in California fireMIDDLETOWN, Calif. — California officials said Wednesday a wildfire burning north of South Francisco has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, but a final figure is still being determined. Another body was found in the rubble in Lake County, bringing the death toll to six from that blaze and another in Northern California — two of the state’s more destructive wildfires in recent memory. Also Wednesday, authorities said a man’s suic...

Bee stings, research that makes you go 'huh?' win Ig Nobels BOSTON — A Cornell University graduate student who allowed honeybees to sting him in 25 places and a group of scientists who concluded it's possible for one man to father 888 children are among the winners of this year's Ig Nobels, which honor humorous scientific achievement. Michael Smith estimates he was stung about 200 times during his 2012 honeybee study. His conclusion: The three most painful places to get stung are the nostril, the upper...

Outcry after Muslim teen detained over clockIRVING, Texas — A 14-year-old Muslim boy became a sensation on social media Wednesday and got an invitation to the White House after word spread that he had been placed in handcuffs and suspended for coming to class with a homemade clock that school officials thought resembled a bomb. Police declined to seek any charges against Ahmed Mohamed, but his arrest and suspension ignited a wave of criticism of police and the school and raised suspicio...

Stewart lobbies for Sept. 11 respondersWASHINGTON — Comedian Jon Stewart turned serious Wednesday as he lobbied members of Congress to permanently extend a law providing medical monitoring and treatment for Sept. 11 first responders. Accompanied by several first responders, Stewart met with members of Congress and attended a Democratic caucus luncheon. “If you can’t get this done, maybe we should shut down,” Stewart told reporters outside the U.S. Senate, referring to the possibili...

Boozman: It’s fair to highlight rival’s Obama tiesCONWAY — Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman said Monday it’s fair to highlight his Democratic rival and former federal prosecutor Conner Eldridge’s ties to President Barack Obama, who remains deeply unpopular in Arkansas. Boozman echoed Republicans’ criticism of Eldridge, who announced last week he was seeking the Democratic nomination to unseat the incumbent first-term senator, as an Obama appointee. “Certainly if you’re appointed by the presi...

Suspect in 2 Mississippi killings dies of apparent suicide GREENVILLE, Miss. — After an intense manhunt, authorities in Mississippi said a college instructor wanted in the deaths of a woman he lived with and a university professor he worked with died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound as police closed in on him. News of Shannon Lamb's death late Monday night brought to a close a chaotic, frightening day during which students and faculty at Delta State University hid in their rooms as authorit...

Marriage scam aimed to help Chinese get U.S. residencyLOS ANGELES — An American man was told he could make $18,000 for marrying a Chinese woman who needed a green card, so he agreed to get hitched at a California wedding studio and then took an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas where he posed in photos with his new wife. But the man was gay and vacationing with his boyfriend, while the woman already had a husband. Until he revealed his sexual orientation to an immigration officer during a green...

Flight attendant accused of lying about strange bagDICKINSON, N.D. — A 21-year-old flight attendant has been charged with terrorizing for allegedly fabricating a story about a suspicious bag found on a plane that then made an emergency landing in North Dakota. Authorities allege Justin Cox-Sever tied a plastic bag under a rear seat in the SkyWest Airlines plane and told the flight crew it was “beeping.” KXMB-TV reports the pilot declared an in-flight emergency, which led to the landing in Dick...

A day of reflection, unityFirst responders remember September 11, 2001 Russellville, the Arkansas River Valley and the United States are different today than on September 10, 2001. We watched and heard of terrorism attacks in other capitals in other countries and said, “That could never happen here.” “We cannot have the attitude that it will not happen here,” Russellville Fire Marshal Richard Setian said. Then on September 11, as Setian and Russellville Fire Chief John...

House lawyer urges 1 expulsion, 1 censure in affair cover-upLANSING, Mich. — The top lawyer for the Michigan House recommended Tuesday that one state lawmaker be expelled and another censured for misconduct stemming from an attempt to hide their extramarital affair. Brock Swartzle, general counsel for the Republican-led chamber and chief of staff to the speaker, said GOP Rep. Todd Courser of Lapeer should be kicked out in part because he has shown “little true remorse,” instead writing “mini-manifestos...

Apple unveils latest iPhone, bigger iPad, revamped TV boxSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple is taking a small step with its latest iPhone while trying to make a bigger leap in other key markets with its largest iPad yet and a long-awaited overhaul of its online video box for TVs. The trend-setting company unveiled its newest twists on technology Wednesday in San Francisco before the usual packed house that turned out for a glimpse at a product line that Apple is counting on to retain its faithful disciples ...

2 freight trains hauling vehicles collideTEXARKANA, Texas — Two crewmembers have been hurt when two freight trains hauling new vehicles collided on Union Pacific property in Northeast Texas. UP spokesman Jeff DeGraff (says four cars derailed early Tuesday in Texarkana, Texas. Authorities are trying to determine why the westbound train hit the northbound train at a UP intersection. DeGraff says a conductor and an engineer on the westbound train suffered minor injuries. Both men were t...

Freddie Gray’s family settles with cityBALTIMORE — The parents of Freddie Gray reached a tentative $6.4 million settlement with the city of Baltimore, nearly five months after their 25-year-old son was critically injured in police custody, sparking days of protests and rioting. The deal announced Tuesday appeared to be among the largest settlements in police death cases in recent years and happened just two days before a judge is set to hear arguments on whether to move the trials ...